


While I Was Crying

by hufflepuffkaspbrak



Series: Things You Said [4]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Best Friends, Can be platonic or romantic, Comfort, Confessions, Crying, M/M, i always write everything vaguely, not an au they mention pennywise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 15:05:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13954182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflepuffkaspbrak/pseuds/hufflepuffkaspbrak
Summary: Eddie doesn't know how to tell Richie what's wrong.





	While I Was Crying

Sobs ripped through Eddie’s body, tears streaming down his face. His body was curled up in a ball on his bed, head resting on his thoroughly tear soaked pillow. He didn’t know how long he had been there crying, but his body was starting to get exhausted, telling him it had been a little while. His throat was sore and even without looking in a mirror he could tell his eyes were puffy and red.

“Hey, Eds -” Eddie heard Richie’s voice before he entered the room and he quickly turned to face towards the wall, wiping at his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“What?” Eddie said, willing his voice to calm down. “Of course, I’m fine.”

Eddie felt a dip in the bed, signaling Richie had sat down behind him. “Eddie…”

“I’m fine, Richie!” He snapped, a bit harsher than he intended.

He felt hands on both of his shoulders leaning him back and he didn’t have the energy to resist, letting himself be pulled into Richie’s chest. The other boy rested his chin on top of Eddie’s head, his arms wrapping around his torso. Eddie felt another tear slip down his cheek and he swallowed hard.

“You don’t have to talk about it, but I’m here.” Richie muttered into his hair.

Eddie breathed deeply and shut his eyes tightly, forcing his body to calm down. He had imagined this situation a million times, never one ending like the other. However, the majority of them ended with a negative outcome.

“I don’t know _how_ to talk about it.” Eddie admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.

Eddie could hear Richie breathing into his hair, the warmth providing some comfort to the boy. “Start where you want, or don’t at all. I just want you to know I’m here for you.”

It was always a weird feeling when Richie was actually serious with Eddie. It wasn’t completely rare, Richie actually had a lot of insight into things and could often provide more than decent advice, but it was a huge juxtaposition to his normal, rambunctious behavior.

“We’re best friends, Rich, right?” Eddie muttered.

Richie chuckled slightly. “Uh, duh, Eddie. You and the rest of the losers are a part of my family. _Family_ as well as best friends.”

“So, you’ll be there for me? Always?” His voice was weak and shaky.

“Through everything, Eddie.”

Eddie was staring at the wall in front of him, reveling in the feeling of Richie’s arms around him, giving him a feeling of comfort and something undeniably _home_. He never felt better than when he was with any of the losers, the people that provided him with such love and joy. His greatest fear was losing any one of them.

Eddie took a huge breath, nervousness pooling in his stomach. It wasn’t butterflies like so many people described nervousness as. No, it was dragons roaring in his stomach, breathing fire and scorching his insides. It was now or never.

“I’m gay.” Eddie said, preparing for Richie to remove himself from him and run away.

Instead, Richie’s arms tightening around Eddie and he felt himself starting to cry again.

“Oh, Eds…” Richie breathed out. “You thought that would change anything?”

Eddie tried to speak through his tears. “Derry isn’t…it’s not a good place, Richie. They’re going to hate me.”

“Since when do I, or any of the losers, have the same opinions as the rest of our shit town?” Richie softly turned Eddie so they were facing each other and he could wipe at the tears pooling in Eddie’s eyes. “We’ve always been outsiders.”

“But this is bad.”

“Maybe here, yes. Maybe this town is close minded as hell and maybe you’ll be ridiculed. But Eddie, you’ll have me. You’ll have the others. And when we can leave, you’ll have the whole world full at your fingertips.”

“What if the world hates me, too?”

Richie sighed and shook his head, sadly rubbing his thumb on his friend’s cheek. “The world is full of good and bad people. And there are people out there like you and people out there who will accept you, trust me.”

Both of their words were soft at this point, full of emotion. Eddie had stopped crying, but his eyes still shined with fear and nervousness. Richie wished he could take away all the negativity swirling in his brain.

“Thank you.” Eddie whispered, looking down.

“Like I said, you’re my family. If I’m with you through a killer clown, I’m with you through this, too.”

Eddie nearly cracked a smile.

“Tell the losers when you’re ready.” Richie said. “And we’ll figure all this out from there. But you’ll never be alone.”

Eddie felt a little bit of pressure lift off his shoulders, his heart jumping ever so slightly. Maybe he lived in a terrible, horror ridden town. But he had Richie, and that was a start.


End file.
